


Spark to Ash and Back Again

by QuillerQueen



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:52:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillerQueen/pseuds/QuillerQueen
Summary: Prompt 31: "Quiet times near the fireplace". A post-finale, Robin-is-back-from-the-dead little thing.





	Spark to Ash and Back Again

Peace, at last.

He was supposed to have reached a heightened state of it—rest in peace, isn't that what they say? Well, Robin never really found that in death, or whatever state of demise it was he'd been in. Not a shred of it, not like this, not nearly as blissful as he feels now.

Blindly, he presses his lips to her brow, breathing her in, decadent lungfuls of apple and spice and Regina. She sighs softly, melting into him further, and hums in satisfaction when his arms tighten around her.

They've only just been reunited after an eternity apart, and his miraculous resurrection of a few days ago still feels fresh and dreamlike. There's been much to learn, much to come to terms with—decades had passed, his children are grown, his friends scattered, his soulmate has gone through many a fantastical transformation. Life's passed him by, and Robin has much catching up to do.

This moment, too, is part of that.

The gentle crackle of the fire, the orange glow behind his eyelids, the faint whiff of smoke evoke a sense of nostalgia. Of these chambers, cold and bereft in that pesky Missing Year, where the flames seemed perpetually smothered by Regina's great grief—oh how the pair of them would dance around each other, hiding spark behind snark. Of a campfire beneath the stars, and Regina's hands gripping the lapels of his jacket as she pressed her lips to his and set his soul alight. Of the mayor's office, stark colours bathed in soft, warm hues from flames swaying behind the ornate grate of her fireplace as Robin's head swam, dizzy with emotion, enamoured of the woman sharing the blanket with him, with confessions shared over food untouched because their hunger was for something else, something better sated with soft touches and gentle caresses. A handful of memories, too few before they were robbed of more—and now they've the chance to make more, finally, miraculously.

"My love," he breathes into her hair, and she doesn't question, doesn't expect anything more than the reverent invocation it is.

Regina's hand travels down his arm, raising pleasant shivers as her fingers trace over Robin's tattoo in a deliberate, delicate dance—a silent promise of eternity.

For a moment, their journey plays in flashes behind his closed eyes: pixie dust and second chances, curses and crossing realms and alternate universes, time travel and an undead non-spouse, the obliteration of his soul and the splitting of hers—and now here they are, beyond grief and guilt and pain, with another shot at happiness.

And they will savour every moment, cherish each day, breathe it and live it with every last fibre of their beings until they depart into the afterlife to do more of the same until the end of time.

The course of true love never does run smooth, and theirs? Rocky, and brutal, and wrought with pain—but undoubtedly epic…

...and, most importantly, far from its end.


End file.
